


Kid Gloves

by Lilyliegh



Series: Arc-V Rarepair Week 2017 [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 15:58:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11421306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilyliegh/pseuds/Lilyliegh
Summary: The start of winter promises fun and games for Sayaka; however, seeing Allen come to school cold and hungry distresses her, and she makes it a priority to take care of him.





	Kid Gloves

**Author's Note:**

> for arc-v rarepair week - day 02: sensitive. it also seems like i tagged on the winter prompt, but that's just coincidence (;

It’s the first snowy day in Heartland. Sayaka watches the thick clumps pour down from the heavens with tired, drooping eyes. She’d woken up before the sun had risen to the sound of early morning commuters scraping the ice from their windshields and the snow from their cars, and since then she’d sat at the window and watched the sun peek up over the white-capped mountains. No one else is awake in her house. The silence nearly lulls her back to sleep, but a sense of urgency keeps her awake.

Sayaka has waited for this snowfall all year. She has dreamed of walking in thick snow that sticks to her winter boots, kicking up white flurries with each step. She has dreamed of making snow angels and snowmen with her classmates at recess, or having ice skating competitions at the outdoor rinks in each park. Last year, Sayaka had barely been able to skate, clinging to the rails for dear life as her friends zipped past her. She’s improved since then: she can now skate forwards and backwards. She’d practiced until her legs were bruised and her fingers cold.

With the cold comes warmth. One of her classmates will head early to class to heat up the room. She’ll come home every day to hot tea and hot chocolate that her grandmother prepared for her. There will be winter festivals to attend; she’ll dress up in her warm kimono, stand before great bonfires to toast her hands, and watch fireworks along the frigid beach. She’ll slurp thick udon in hot broth, as delicious as her grandmother can make for her for dinner each night.

The winter brings so many wonderful memories to mind that Sayaka can’t help but sigh in joy.

It’s over an hour later when she hears the flick of lights. Her grandmother is awake. Sayaka pushes herself off from the windowsill and hurries out the door to greet her; when her feet hit the ground, she shivers from the cold that stings at her soles. By the time she’s slipped out of her bedroom, now with socks, her grandmother has already begun to tend to the fireplace. She turns around when Sayaka enters, eyes crinkling the corners.

“Good morning, Sayaka.”

“Good morning, Granny. I’ll help you make breakfast today.”

Sayaka rolls up her sleeves as she stands before the counters. Her grandmother raised her to be a hardworking young lady, and thus Sayaka knows how to cook and clean. She can patch up her own clothes and knit new ones. She’s spent summers tending the garden and winters learning how to make warm soups and stews. Sayaka doesn’t know when she’ll ever need all this practical information, but she supposes that, when her grandmother is no longer with her, she’ll be able to live on her own.

Methodically, she cuts the vegetables. Her knife rolls across the cutting board, slicing in an in-and-out motion like how a needle moves through fabric. Sayaka has been practicing knitting, and her minds jumps to it whenever possible. The world is a pattern that she creates; her needle draws the line of fate through hers and her friends’ lives, tying them together in a design so elaborate Sayaka will never know the outcome.

Her mind only jumps back to reality when the kettle whistles.

She and her grandmother dine in light, breezy conversation, their legs tucked under the kotatsu. Her grandmother mentions that it’s the first snowfall of the winter, and how she ought to be careful walking to school today.

“I’ll be safe,” Sayaka promises. “The roads to school will be cleared, and I don’t have to leave early today.”

Her grandmother nods solemnly. “Dress warm. You don’t want to catch a cold.”

After they eat and wash dishes, her grandmother makes sure of this. She bundles Sayaka up in a sweater and petticoat cinched tight with three butterfly buttons. A long, purple scarf is wrapped twice round her slim neck, with the tails hanging out to blow gently in the wind. Next, a toque is placed over her head; her grandmother’s cold fingers tuck in her hair, until all that can be seen of Sayaka is her two eyes behind her glasses, and her red nose.

“You might be overdoing it,” Sayaka says with a chuckle. When she tries to bend down, she finds that her body is stiff underneath all the fabric and layers her grandmother has wrapped around her. Should she fall, Sayaka thinks she won’t be able to stand again.

“Nonsense,” her grandmother tells her, cinching the scarf a bit tighter and pulling it up so that it covers Sayaka’s lips and muffles her words. “I want you to be warm.” She pulls Sayaka close and kisses her on her nose; Sayaka’s cheeks blush, and unable to kiss her grandmother back, she settles for nestling her nose against her cheek. “Have a good day at school, Sayaka!”

Sayaka pulls back. With her gloved hands, she struggles to open the door for a moment. Getting to school is going to be harder than it looks.

Over her shoulder, Sayaka calls out, “Have a good day, Granny!” and shuts the door. The first thing she feels is the cold wind nip at her cheeks. She shivers beneath all the layers as another gust of wind tugs at her scarf. The day is still waking up, and the sun has yet to warm any part of the sleepy town. In that moment, Sayaka is glad her grandmother dressed her so warmly, or else she imagines she’d get to school shivering.

Carefully, Sayaka wobbles her way down the stairs and begins her trek to school. The snow on the sidewalks has been brushed away in sections, and in other areas it’s been compacted down by hundreds of feet that have already walked that path. She worries that there will be slippery ice beneath the deceivingly innocent snow; however, she doesn’t fall once.

Her classmates, however, are not so fortunate. At the main road, Sayaka waits for her best friend Kaito, who comes late wearing only a long, black coat and a white scarf tied once around his neck. He doesn’t stop walking when he passes by her, and Sayaka pushes herself off the wall and resumes walking alongside him.

“Good morning, Kaito-kun!”

Tenjou Kaito is the same age as her and in her same homeroom class. Quiet but wise, Kaito has known her since they both started primary school. He comes off as someone cold and unyielding, but Sayaka knows that deep down Kaito cares deeply for his friends and that he’ll remain faithful to her. If she was ever late to class, he’d come to her house to check up on her. If she was hurt, he’d take care of her.

“Morning.”

At the same time, Kaito minces words.

Sayaka spreads her mittened hands out to catch the falling snowflakes; she and Kaito are already dusted white, their clothes damp from the melting snow. “It’s the first snowfall of the year! Are you excited?”

Kaito shoves his hands deeper into his pockets. “The streets are so icy that it might be hard for people to get home from work. Traffic will be backed up and the trains might be slow.”

Sayaka frowns. She hadn’t thought of the consequences of this weather. Of course Kaito would think realistically: as much fun as snow is for her, it’s a major inconvenience for anyone that has to travel into town. People will need to dress warmer and bring umbrellas to stay dry, and the trains might be delayed from the heavy snowfall. Sayaka had only been thinking of herself …

A gentle pat on the shoulder startles her. It’s Kaito, looking at her with his lips pursed and eyes clouded. It’s as if he’s trying to say, _Hey, you spaced out a little._

“But,” Kaito says,, “I’m also happy it’s snowing. We’ll be able to skate during recess.”

The Kaito Sayaka is friends with is practical: he can’t ever answer a question without thinking about both sides of the problem. He’s almost _too_ wise for an elementary schooler, and it means it’s difficult for him to make friends. Sayaka loves him for it though: she likes her friend Kaito who thinks before he speaks, who is blunt and honest and serious when everyone else in the class is selfishly thinking about themselves. In a way, Kaito reminds Sayaka of herself. She too thinks before she speaks. She picks up on her classmates’ verbal and nonverbal cues, on what they do and do not say when they talk to her. Sayaka knows her classmates well, and any difference in their behaviour she catches onto immediately.

“We should skate together,” Sayaka says, only because she thinks she might have been quiet for too long.

“We should _race,”_ Kaito says, voice tinged with a challenge.

When they get to school, they kick the snow from their boots and brush the collecting fluff off each other’s jackets. Kaito’s hair is soaked from not wearing a hood; the distinct point of his blond hair is drooping to the side, and his green bangs hang loosely around his face. Sayaka points this out to him, and Kaito only shrugs it off.

“I’ll dry.”

They carry their wet outer gear to their cubbies, where they strip down to their school uniforms and replace their boots with inside shoes. Out of her winter clothes, Sayaka can feel the heat on her cheeks and the sweat on her body. She fans herself off while Kaito adjusts his uniform. Sayaka’s own uniform is a white top and blue skirt – nothing to sneeze at, but during this frigid season she has on thick, cotton tights to keep her legs warm.

Once they are ready to go, Sayaka follows Kaito to class. The hallways are noisy with chattering students, all of them eager to talk about the snowfall. Students from closer to town talk about how they haven’t seen much snow yet, while country kids share how roads were even _blocked_ by their houses and they had to find alternate routes to school. She and Kaito both live towards the country, though not far enough that either of them had to worry about finding a new route or being late to class.

Likewise, classroom 5-C is just as chatty about the snow. All of her classmates stand at the wide windows, noses pressed to the glass to watch the thick, clumping snow scatter across the city. There is so much snow that the sun is still hidden behind the clouds and mountains, and it makes the landscape appear rather lonely.

“Who do you think’s gonna be late today?” a classmate says.

From down the row, someone else says, “I had to wake up a half-hour early just so I could make it on time. The trains were so slow today!”

“If you live in the country, you probably had to leave even earlier.”

Sayaka knows. Her house is close enough to the main road that she didn’t have to leave early, though she suspects that tomorrow there will be even more snow and she’ll be forced to walk in the dark. Kaito lives in the opposite direction, and thus why they meet at the main intersection to walk the rest of the way together.

“Hey, you think Kozuki-kun will show up today?” someone asks.

“Nah, he lives too far away.”

Kozuki Allen is another boy in her homeroom class, one who lives further away than her and deep within the country. Sayaka knows a lot about Allen: he picks fights with other boys and tends to keep to himself. He used to live in city, but last year he and his mother moved to the country. Allen walks the same path as her, though he’s either early or late for class.

_Looks like he’s late today,_ Sayaka thinks.

With a clap of the sliding door, their teacher, Mr. Sakaki, enters. The students pressed up against the glass hurry to their seats while Mr. Sakaki puts down his briefcase and takes out today’s papers. Sayaka follows the herd of her classmates rushing to their seats; Kaito wanders down to sit next to her.

There is one seat missing in the class.

Once Mr. Sakaki has put away his belongings, they stand, bow, and resume sitting.

“Mr. Sakaki,” one of her classmates says, “Kozuki-kun is absent today.”

“Hm,” is all the teacher says.

Sayaka wrings her hands in her lap. She wonders what has kept her classmate. Allen sits right ahead of her, often doodling in his notebook instead of paying attention to the lesson. She sees him enough that she wants to know where she is; however, Allen never answers any questions she asks him, and last year when she tried to befriend him, he told her to get lost.

Unfortunately, her mind wanders for the first period on thoughts of where Allen could be. Kaito has to poke her twice to rouse her from her daydreaming so that she can answer a question. She apologises profusely to the teacher, words tumbling out of her lips, and –

The door swings open with a resounding thud. Kozuki Allen, thoroughly drenched, enters the class. His red hair is drooping even more than Kaito’s, flattened by the bits of melting snow that cling to the strands. His uniform is damp and crumpled, pants sagging and white dress shirt translucent in places. He looks like an utter _mess,_ and the only expression he can pull off is a scowl.

“Take your seat please, Kozuki-kun,” Mr. Sakaki says. Sayaka has noticed that Allen dislikes the teacher even less; once, Allen told them all that Mr. Sakaki picked favourites.

Sayaka never told him she thought he was telling the truth.

Allen pulls out his chair and flops down in his seat. His cheeks are bright red, his nose too, and Sayaka doesn’t miss the shiver her classmate has as he tucks himself into his seat. She wonders why he didn’t bring his jacket – surely their teacher wouldn’t mind. However, this detail only encourages her mind to wander more. How come Allen was late? Why is he so cold? Did he get lost?

She misses all of second period, and only Kaito shaking her shoulder wakes her up.

“You’re going to fail the test if you aren’t paying attention,” Kaito tells her. “Come on, let’s eat.”

Sayaka nods and reaches down to grab her lunch box. As she rises up, she notes that Allen is the only student not eating. He fiddles around with his mechanical pencil, spinning it on his fingers. Sayaka wants to ask him if he’s eating, but she thinks it might not be her place.

She eats with Kaito and keeps one eye on Allen.

When lunch is done, she and Kaito head out for recess with the other children. All lunch period she heard chatter from her classmates about playing in the snow. Several children had already formed a group to make a giant snowman in the field. When they go downstairs to put on their hats, coats, and boots – and Sayaka takes time to put on every extra layer her grandmother made her wear – Kaito jokes, “You won’t be able to move with all that on.”

“But I’ll be warm!” Sayaka says. She wraps her scarf around her neck, and pulls down her hat; the only visible skin on her is her nose and the corners of her face. She winks at him. “You’re going to freeze – here, let me wrap your scarf once more! You’re going to catch a cold!”

Kaito sidesteps her, chuckling with his hands shoved down deep in his pockets. Sayaka stumbles under all her snow gear, and when she rises up her eyes fall on Allen. He’s heading out into the snow wearing only a thin jacket and a pair of sneakers. It’s as much clothing as Sayaka would wear in the early fall weather, not when it’s the first snow of the year and the temperature has dropped well below zero.

“Fine,” Kaito tells her. “Wrap my scarf once more.”

Sayaka rights herself. Last year she knit Kaito a scarf for his birthday, a present that she knew would come in handy when the weather got colder. Sayaka smiles; the present has been put to good use.

When they’re ready, Kaito leads her outdoors. The frigid air bites at her nose and cheeks, though the rest of her stays toasty warm as they make their way towards the group of children building a snowman. Some of them are fifth-years from another homeroom, yet they eagerly invite her to join in and help them roll great balls of snow to make the bodies of the snowmen.

“We’re making a snowman family!”

“I’m going to make a snowman taller than you!”

“How are we going to stack the snowballs?”

“Here, climb on my back and I’ll boost you up! This is going to be the biggest snowman _ever!”_

Kaito doesn’t join in. He stands off to the side, only offering suggestions when Sayaka tries to invite him into the play. Like Allen who stands in his sweater and sneakers, Kaito doesn’t try to make friends. The difference is that Kaito has her, and Allen has no one; and that Kaito is on speaking terms with his classmates, and Allen starts fights when he talks. While Kaito gives her advice on how to shape the snowballs so that they can stack them for the snowman's bodies, Sayaka keeps a close eye on Allen. Even from halfway across the field Sayaka can see him shivering. He rolls snowballs with ungloved hands before squashing them with his sneakers.

“Sasayama-chan, here. Let’s try to lift your ball on top of mine.”

Sayaka turns her back to Allen so that she can kneel down. Her fingers catch in the tightly packed snow, and, using her knees, she pushes herself off the ground.

“Get off me! Get off me!”

Sayaka drops the snowball in shock, smashing it across the ground. She blurts out an apology as her body wheels around to see Allen and another classmate wrestling in the snow. The flurries make it hard to see who is on top of who, but before the fight can get anywhere Kaito is already over there and yanking the children apart. Sayaka doesn’t move; her legs are frozen stiff, and all she can do is bring her hands up to her face in fear.

There’s blood. Even from this distance she can see the snow speckled red, a colour that stands out so brightly on the white fields. She’s not sure if it’s Allen’s or the other boy’s, but the sight of it is enough to churn her stomach.

“Are you OK, Sasayama-chan?”

“Fine.” Her voice comes out as a faint whistle.

Thankfully, the fight is over within moments. Over the sound of the wind Sayaka can’t hear what the boys say, but Kaito breaks it apart and pushes them away from each other. He kicks away the bloody snow to hide the evidence, and then comes back to her brushing his hands off. It’s a surprise he can act so calm when something like _that_ just happened; however, Kaito doesn’t say anything about it when he stands beside her.

“Weren’t you building a snowman?”

“Y-yeah,” Sayaka says. “Why don’t you help me?”

Kaito does.

In class, Sayaka still can’t focus. Allen comes into the classroom with a bit of blood on his shirt – turns out a classmate teased him, pushed him, and Allen lunged blindly at them. By the time Kaito had pulled the two students apart, the boy had gotten a hit at Allen’s face. His nose had started bleeding.

She spaces out for the entire class. She’s going to fail the test. And yet Sayaka’s mind can’t seem to think this is a bad, bad idea and that she should get her act together. No, instead Sayaka thinks, _I want to be friends with Kozuki-kun,_ and at the end of the day her feet autopilot her to stand before his desk.

Allen is looking up at her. Oh gods, what has she done? Sayaka feels her heart begin to race in her chest, and her cheeks grow redder with each moment. It’s not hot enough in the classroom for her to blame her blush on the temperature, and Allen can probably _hear_ her speeding heart rate. He’s probably judging her right now, eyes narrowed. He seems like a nice boy, and up until this very moment Sayaka has always wanted to befriend him, but now …

She swallows audibly.

“Kozuki-kun, let’s walk home together.”

“Don’t you walk Tenjou home first?”

_He didn’t say no!_ her mind thinks. Nonetheless, Sayaka stumbles over her next words. Her cheeks are probably as red as the Allen’s hair. “Ah, well, yes, I usually do! That’s right! But – you see – um – today I want to walk home with you! We both live in the country and we walk down the same road!”

Allen raises an eyebrow. Then he shrugs. “Sure, if we’re going the same way.”

Turning back to Kaito, Sayaka gives a short yet grateful bow. “Thank you, Kaito-kun! See you tomorrow!”

Kaito smiles back at her. “Have fun, Sayaka.”

Kaito turns and heads out the door with one last wave. They’re in the coat room, Sayaka nearly done dressing up for the cold weather. Over her shoulder, she can see Allen standing a few paces back with his hands in the one pocket of his sweater. His neck and face are exposed, already looking a bit red from the colder air in the room.

Sayaka feels guilty wearing such thick gear while Allen shivers in his sweater. She unwinds her scarf, shivering slightly as the cold air attacks her neck, and holds it out to Allen. “Here,” she says when he doesn’t look at her. “It’s cold –”

“I know that,” Allen snaps. He doesn’t reach out to take it.

Sayaka holds it out, stretching her arm to close the space between them. “I’ve got a warm jacket and gloves.”

Allen’s eyes fall to the purple scarf. His eyes narrow, and when he looks up at her, he’s biting his lip so hard it’s white. “I don’t need that.” The tremble in his voice is unmistakable. Nonetheless, Sayaka doesn’t want to pressure him. Maybe he’s worried that someone will tease him for wearing a purple scarf. Maybe he’s worried she’ll be cold, and he doesn’t want to intrude on her. Just by being with him for these few moments, Sayaka gets the impression that Allen doesn’t like to meddle in others’ affairs.

She ties the scarf round her own neck, cinching it tight just like her grandmother had done for her that morning. All geared up, she leads Allen out the doors and into the blustery winter wonderland. The sun is now visible, colouring the snow a soft ochre that makes the world seem much brighter than it ought to be. Despite the wind blowing at her face and the cold seeping through her many layers, Sayaka feels a smile spread across her face.

Next to her, Allen is shivering so strongly that it nearly knocks him into her. He doesn’t look at her and he doesn’t say a word.

“You live out in the country, don’t you?” Sayaka says. “What’s it like out there?”

“Quiet.”

Oh. “Well, it must be lovely out there! I bet you’re lucky and have a big backyard!”

This time, she gets more than a one-word answer out of Allen: “There are a lot of potholes in the land, and Mama says it’s not very safe, but there is a lot of space to run.”

“That’s really lucky! My house doesn’t have a big backyard, and mostly it’s just my grandmother’s garden. I guess in the winter though we can run wherever we’d like …” She trails off, flushing pink. Her eyes fall on the bit of exposed shirt underneath his sweater – she can still see droplets of blood.

“Are you OK, Kozuki-kun? I saw that fight –”

“I’m fine.” His words are a hot knife through ice. The conversation is done.

Recovering quickly, Sayaka asks, “What do you like to do, Kozuki-kun?” He raises an eyebrow. “Like me, for example, I like to sew and knit and garden. How about you?”

Allen’s cheeks grow red this time; Sayaka knows it’s not from the cold weather either. “I like to skate.”

Sayaka has never seen Allen roller skate to school in the spring or skate on the ice during the winter. During gym periods, Allen keeps to himself and doesn’t participate more than he has to. She’s seen him run before though, faster than any other boy in the class, and thus she supposes he could have strong legs for skating too.

“Sasayama-chan?”

“Yes?” she says hurriedly. She’s spaced out.

“Why did you want to walk with me?”

“Hm?” She turns her head to the side, in part to hide the forming blush on her own cheeks. It’s embarrassing, she thinks, to tell him that she wanted to get to know him. That would mean admitting to watching him in class. She cares about him, and she’s sure he already knows it, but does she have to actually say it? Can’t he infer it?

“Well,” she begins, eyes to her snowy boots, “we walk the same way, right? And we’re in the same class too. Wouldn’t it make sense that we walked together?”

“I guess.”

She looks up, feet stopping at the dip in the curb. It’s her house, the porch light glowing faintly through a heavy gust of snowy wind. Her head burrows between her shoulders to keep warm from it. Until that moment, Sayaka hadn’t realised how far she’d walked with Allen. _It felt like we just left the school._

Allen stays there though.

“Um, thank you, Kozuki-kun!” Her hands folds together, thumbs twiddling through her purple knitted mittens. “We should walk to school tomorrow too! You can knock on my door – I’ll be ready.”

“Sure,” Allen says. He pauses, frowns, and then throws up a casual hand. “See ya, Sasayama-chan.”

* * *

 The following day, Sayaka wakes up even earlier. She peeks out the window to see the freshly-fallen snow illuminated by the pale moonlight and the eerie glow of the street lamps. The sky still has faint stars; no one else is awake. Quietly, she tiptoes out of her room and into the kitchen. She tends to the fire like her grandmother has taught her, and she begins to prepare breakfast and lunch. Often times her grandmother makes her lunch, but today …

Today Sayaka wants to make lunch for Allen. She remembers seeing him fiddling with his pencil instead of eating, and she knows he was hungry. He didn’t have a lunch. In fact, he never has a lunch. She’s offered her own food before, but he’s never taken it in front of his classmates. Maybe he’s embarrassed. Maybe he’s ashamed. This time though, Sayaka is going to give him the food _before_ class. That way he’s not as embarrassed by the gesture.

She doesn’t know what he likes or dislikes, so she packs together her favourites: rice, egg, snow peas, teriyaki chicken. With nimble fingers she tries to arrange the food in some pattern, only it’s not the same as sewing and the result look hastily throw-together. If she’d asked her grandmother to help her, it would have looked much better …

One cue, a pair of weathered hands come round to hold hers. Sayaka jumps, though she settles when her grandmother lets go and spins her round.

“Good morning, Sayaka.”

“Good morning, Granny.”

Her grandmother tilts her head towards the two lunch boxes on the counter. “Two?” she says.

“For a friend,” Sayaka explains. “I … want to bring him lunch today.”

Her grandmother is wise, with her smile shimmering in her eyes. She doesn’t say anything, but when Sayaka heads to her room to change into her uniform and returns, the lunch boxes are carefully wrapped in handkerchiefs and fastened with ribbon. It looks much better than anything Sayaka could have done; gratefully, she bows to her grandmother before gathering her belongings.

Like the day before, her grandmother helps her dress. She zips up Sayaka’s sweater first, then covers it with the thick overcoat. As she does each button, Sayaka notes the same up-and-down weaving motion that her grandmother taught her when sewing. She slips warm, knitted gloves over Sayaka’s fingers and tugs a matching hat over her head. When she reaches for the purple scarf though, Sayaka pulls back a bit.

“Can I wear the red one today?”

It’s the scarf Sayaka knitted herself, one of her first big projects when her grandmother taught her how to knit. There are a few holes and the pattern is uneven in places, but it’s one of her warmest scarves.

Her grandmother raises an eyebrow but says nothing. She winds it round Sayaka’s pale neck twice and ties it across her chest. When Sayaka is dressed, her grandmother kisses the tip of her nose. “Have a good day at school, Sayaka.”

“Thank you, Granny.”

And she sits down on the step, waiting. Her grandmother hovers for a moment before Sayaka tells her, “My friend is coming to get me today. He should be here soon … I think.” Blushing, Sayaka realises that she never told Allen _when_ to come. For all she knows, he could be late picking her up, and thus making them both late for class.

A knock on the door startles her. She quickly rises and pulls it open, flinching at the cold air that seeps through. Allen stands at the door, hand still hovering from knocking. He’s already wet from the falling snow and shivering in the same sweater as yesterday. Sayaka wonders if it’s still damp, making him even colder …

“Morning.”

“Ah, good morning, Kozuki-kun! I’m off, Granny!” She closes the door after her, stalling at the doorway for a moment before stepping down the stairs. The morning is still new and the roads aren’t busy; Sayaka doesn’t see any students walking to school until she gets closer into town. This time Allen walks alongside her instead of lingering back.

“Kozuki-kun,” she says to get his attention. “I brought something for you today.” Reaching inside her knapsack, Sayaka pulls out one of the lunches. This one is wrapped is dark-blue cloth and fastened with a silver tie.

“I’m not hungry,” he says.

“It’s for lunch,” Sayaka says. “I saw you didn’t have lunch yesterday, and I didn’t want to embarrass you, so …” She holds it out to him again. “Please accept this.”

For a moment, Allen doesn’t. His hands hover in the air, fingers blowing slightly in the breeze. Then he clenches his fist, knuckles as white as the snow. Sayaka didn’t think he’d be embarrassed, yet here he stands. Her mind races ahead: should she try to push it towards him again, or should she hold back? Where does she draw the line between being kind and sensitive, and being brash and pushy?

Allen answers for her.

He snatches the lunch out of her hands, murmurs the quickest of thank-yous, and shoves the lunch box into his ratty backpack. His hands are blistered and cold, white around the fingernails even. Sayaka thinks to offer up her scarf and mittens next, though she supposes that that might be pushing boundaries. For now,  Sayaka can rest easy that Allen has food.

Today, Allen will have lunch with her.

When they make it to the major road, Sayaka waves Kaito over. He raises an eyebrow at Allen but says nothing. The three of them fall into breezy conversation, punctuated only by the pauses to catch their breath. Sayaka wonders if Allen would fit into their group. Would Allen get along with Kaito, who is generally standoffish towards anyone? Kaito seems to be enjoying Allen’s company; the two of them talk about video games and movies.

“Well I’ve never played them,” Allen keeps saying, “but I’ve read up about them.”

“You should come over then.”

Sayaka nearly chokes.

“Eh?” Allen says. By the whiteness of his face, Sayaka supposes he’s choked at Kaito’s bold words too.

Kaito seems unaffected by his classmates’ surprise, hands in his pockets and looking ahead without the slightest red tinge to his cheeks. “I said, Kozuki, that you should come over then. I’ve been meaning to show Sayaka-chan that particular game for a bit, so both of you should come visit. You said you wanted to play it, right?”

“Right,” Allen squeaks.

Sayaka can’t even get her mouth moving to form words.

At school, stepping into the heat melts the clumping snow on their hats and coats. This time, Kaito has a hat; it’s only Allen shivering in his jacket and sneakers, his uniform damp from the wet snow. Sayaka wonders if Allen’s family is poor. She knows they live out in the country, but that isn’t much to go off of. Allen doesn’t bring lunch though, and he talks about _wanting_ things more than _having_ them …

_Is that why Allen comes to school cold?_

They hurry on to class; Sayaka’s mind dwells on the thought all through first period. She pays attention to her second lesson. Ahead of her, she notices that Allen has paid attention too. Rather than doodling in his textbook, he appears to be writing _something_ down. It’s more than she’s even seen him do all semester.

_What changed?_

When lunchtime rolls around, Allen opens up his knapsack and pulls out the wrapped lunch box. Murmurs echo through the classroom: _Kozuki-kun has a lunch. He never has a lunch. When did he get food? Did he steal someone else’s food – should we check?_ The other students aren’t quiet with their pondering. Ears burning, Allen turns away from them and hugs the lunch box close to his chest.

Sayaka leans over her desk so that she can look at him. “Hey, Kozuki-kun,” she says. “Why don’t you eat lunch with Kaito-kun and me today?”

His eyes rise just a bit so that she can see the blue of his irises. He nods.

They drag their desks together until it makes a T-shape. By this point, the class is a-roar with chatter about who Allen is sitting with and why. Allen has never had lunch with someone else, at least not since he was in elementary school. Come to think of it, Sayaka thinks that Allen hasn’t had lunch for a few years now. She remembers being in his kindergarten class where he was quite an outgoing and happy boy. That Allen brought lunch every day in a superhero bento box. This Allen though … Sayaka hasn’t seen Allen eat lunch at all this year.

As Allen unwraps the cloth and opens the lunch box, Sayaka’s stomach fills with dread. What she made hadn’t been pretty at all, and she’d put the same food in both of theirs. What if someone realises that? What if Allen gets embarrassed and doesn’t want to eat lunch with them anymore?

_It’s different._

It looks like it was made in a chef’s kitchen. The rice is tucked to the corner, the chicken cupped in a paper cupcake wrapper; the vegetables are bright and tasty, arranged so that they don’t look awkwardly cut and cooked.

_Granny fixed it for me._

Sayaka’s own lunch looks different. In truth, it’s the same, only Granny has taken care to make the lunch box look visually different. The chicken is blended in with the vegetables and circling the rice that makes a heart-shape in the centre of the lunch. Unless someone was staring at her lunch intently – or if that someone was Kaito who, by the hitch in his eyebrows, already knows that she made Allen lunch – they wouldn’t know it was the same food.

“Let’s eat,” Kaito says.

Once again, the conversation bubbles up. Kaito tells Allen about upcoming video games, and Allen shares what he already knows from reading wiki articles and watching let’s plays. Sayaka confesses that she’s been watching let’s plays too until she feels confident in buying the game. Let’s plays are … soothing to her. It’s like walking alongside an expert player as they show you the ropes of a new, challenging game.

Their conversation is so joyous that Sayaka doesn’t hear the gossipy murmurs of her classmates.

When class is done, Sayaka hurries round to Allen’s desk. “Let’s go home together, Kozuki-kun!”

This time, Allen says something different: “Let’s walk Tenjou home first.”

At first, this seems like a wonderous idea. Allen and Kaito get along like clockwork, flowing from one topic to the next. It’s a miracle they haven’t crossed paths more in class considering that they’ve struck up a friendship so quickly. However, perhaps it’s because of who they are that they never became friends. Neither of them seek out friendship; it takes someone like Sayaka – someone with people-skills – to bring them together.

As the walk continues though, Sayaka notices that Allen begins to shiver more. He rubs at his running nose with his bare hand and shivers when chilly gusts hit them. When saying goodbye to Kaito, his hands darts from his pocket so quickly that it’s a blur to her eyes. In her many layers, Sayaka can’t imagine how cold Allen must be in his wet sweater and sneakers.

“Kozuki-kun,” she ventures, “would you like my scarf? You look cold.”

“I’m fine.”

This time, Sayaka pushes a bit harder. “It’s not purple today. I … knitted it myself, and it’s very warm.”

Allen says nothing. Out of the corner of her eye, Sayaka watches for any signs of refusal; all she sees is Allen’s body clenching up to conserve heat. She unwinds the red scarf from her neck, flinching when the air touches her warm skin. Should she hand it over to him, or should she tie it around his neck –

He leans forward just enough so that Sayaka can match the distance. With her gloves hands she wraps the scarf twice around his neck, noticing the brightness of Allen’s cheeks. That can’t all be from the cold. She ties off the scarf in a knot at the front, hands lingering for a moment before she pulls them back. The scarf is so long and thick that it covers half of Allen’s blushing face. His dripping, red hair is the same colour as the yarn.

“Thanks.”

They continue walking home. Allen’s shaking has calmed, though he still keeps his arms firmly to his side to preserve whatever heat is left in his body.

“Kozuki-kun, you can keep that scarf until tomorrow. Please wear it home.”

“OK.”

Sayaka bites her lip. “Kozuki-kun?”

Allen pauses for a moment. “Yeah?”

“Do you only have that one jacket?”

“Yeah.”

The words are out before she can reel them back: “Why?”

Allen doesn’t say anything. The silence becomes awkward, a barrier between them that Sayaka suspects she’ll never be able to cross. She _knows_ Allen’s family must be poor. There can’t be any other reason. No parent would willingly send their child out in the cold with only a jacket. Sayaka remembers Allen’s parents, remembers his mother a little better.

_Where is Allen’s father?_ Sayaka only remembers meeting his mother –

_Where is Allen’s father? He’s gone._

“Kozuki-kun, please keep the scarf until tomorrow.”

“OK.”

The following morning, Sayaka wakes up to the moonlight streaming through the window and the stars dancing in the sky. They look like beacons of hope in the clear sky. Through the foggy window she can already see the beginnings of a good day.

It’s the first day it’s not snowing.

Sayaka creeps out of her room, feet unsocked, and pads to the kitchen. The floor is still frigidly cold, so she jumps from foot to foot as she lights the fireplace for the morning. She then sets to making breakfast for her and Granny, and lunch for her and Allen. There are radishes and cabbage in the fridge that she cuts up and stir fries, and leftover battered shrimp that she arranges in new cupcake cups. Today’s lunch looks better than her disaster yesterday.

The pitter-patter of feet doesn’t make her jump this time. Her grandmother comes to stand  next to her, eyes falling on the two lunch boxes carefully arranged.

“Two lunches again?”

“For a friend,” Sayaka says. “I want to bring him lunch today.”

Granny says nothing. She helps Sayaka wrap them in patterned cloths and tie them shut with silky ribbons. Pride swells in Sayaka’s heart when she gazes down at the food she’s lovingly prepared for her and Allen. Today, she knows that he’ll take the lunch. Today, she and Kaito and Allen will walk to school together and eat lunch together. Maybe she can start studying with Allen too; even better, they’ll study with Kaito who takes notes every day in class. At recess, she’ll build a snowman with Allen and go skating with Allen.

Warmth bubbles up inside her.

_Allen is my friend._

She hurries off to change into her school uniform. Then, at the doorway Granny helps her dress once more. First comes the jacket, then the overcoat. Granny reaches for the red scarf, realises it’s not there, and a knowing smile crosses her face. “I guess you’ll have to wear the purple scarf today.”

“Yes,” Sayaka says.

Granny wraps the scarf twice around her neck and ties it tight. She pulls the cap over Sayaka’s head; faces close, she rubs noses with her. However, when Granny starts to put her gloves on, Sayaka hesitates for a moment.

“Can I … bring a second pair of gloves. It’s for a friend.”

“You should knit him some,” Granny says as she slips on Sayaka’s purple gloves and hands her the red pair. “I think he’d like that.”

“I think so too.”

Sayaka hops into her boots. Her hands squeeze the gloves tight to her chest. Then, she waits. This time, Granny doesn’t hover around her and returns to the kitchen to eat her breakfast. When there is a knock on the door, she says, “Have a good day at school, Sayaka,” and Sayaka returns it with, “I’m off, Granny! Have a good day!”

She opens the door. Allen has the scarf wrapped around his neck, one hand fastened at the coat tail and beginning to take it off. Sayaka closes the door behind her and hovers at the top step. A faint blush forms on her cheeks, so she looks down at her feet. “You should wear the scarf today. It’s quite cold.”

Allen nods and drops his hands into his pockets. Bowing her head even further, she holds out the red gloves. Like the scarf, they are holey in places and not the warmest pair she owns; however, they’re the first pair of gloves she’s ever knit, and for that she’s fond of them. They are a product of hard work and dedication. Like the lunch box that she also passes over to Allen, Sayaka feels proud of these gloves.

“You can wear these too,” she says.

“Thank you.” He sounds sincere.

Sayaka looks up.

He _looks_ sincere, eyes focused on hers that she regrets looking up in the first place. His eyes are a blue as light as a cloudless sky and as bright as a starry night. When he slips on the gloves, fingers flexing under the cinched yarn, the smile he gives her warms her more than every layer her grandmother has bundled her in. This warmth spreads deep within her heart and burns longer than any fire.

They step down the stairs together and begin the walk. Allen starts talking about a let’s play he watched last night that Kaito owns. His words suggest that they should ask to visit Kaito’s house soon.

“Kozuki-kun,” Sayaka says.

He looks up. “Yeah?”

“Let’s go skating together.”


End file.
